No Treason

The term “monopoly” was originally used to describe the process of a state/monarch granted exclusive privilege.

That is to say that our predecessors understood that all men compete, and will compete for profit and market share, unless a higher power or authority conferred exclusivity on a person or firm.  That the market is a natural state, and that the institution of state attempts to change the natural order to solicit a specific outcome.

Anti-capitalists today do a tremendous disservice to the liberty agenda by reinforcing the notion that businesses are able to attain monopoly status without indicating that monopoly is state driven through licensing and other forms of regulation.

It’s important that we never miss an opportunity to tie monopoly to the state.  It’s not just having the right message, it’s about communicating the sort of information that allows people to see the state not as a series of specific interventions, but as the prime mover against nature and man.

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• West Karana » Adventures in Monopoly #3: Darkfall

A friend of mine argues, “We should stop immigration, it’s already too much of a burden on the health and welfare systems!”. He continues, “If you are in a hole, stop digging!”

This made me think.

Isn’t being in a hole the inevitable outcome of digging?

I mean, if people didn’t want to be in a hole, why would they dig one?

Is the problem digging the hole, or digging it and being stuck in it?

Next time someone says, “When you’re in a hole, stop digging!”, you can tell them, “Maybe we should tell everyone with a shovel!”